So You Think You Can Dance 5, July 8 – The English Muffin and Brooklyn Brownie

Jeanine Mason and Phillip Chbeeb got together with Russian folk choreographers Youri Nelzine and Lilia Babenko to learn the kalinka. Babenka wants them to concentrate on the Russian character, as well as apply amazingly hard Russian technique. Phillip isn’t sure what the expect but has a feeling he’ll be exhausted. Jeanine doesn’t know anyone that has extensively trained in this. It’s supposed to be a competition betwen a man and a woman.

Starting out dancing to Kalinka by Barynya, Jeanine and Phillip are in traditional dress, which I guess is fitting since they wear traditional garb here when they do Bollywood. I think they make the most of it, but honestly, they must have been asking what they did to deserve this when they pulled it out of the hat, especially after being in the bottom three last week. Phillip does the low to the ground kicking, reminding me of that episode of Happy Days, and does well with it.

Nigel claps very slowly and says they ask them to do everything they throw at them, but he isn’t so sure they should have asked Phillip and Jeanine to do that one. He felt it resembled two young kids doing these steps. Joshua and Twitch did a Russian number last year that was so outstanding, yet this seemed too folky. He felt it needed a bottle of vodka to go with it, and he doesn’t have one. There’s a new concept. The So You Think You Can Dance drinking game. So far we have champagne and vodka. It’s a difficult one for them, as it’s not about their dancing, but about the style. Phillip’s leg work on the turnover was fabulous, and Jeanine is beautiful.

Mary talks about the positive parts, saying Jeanine came out from the beginning and made it believable to the point she really believed she was a Russian folk dancer. When Phillip did the flips on the floor, it was really interesting, especially to get close to the floor like that. They pulled it off and while it wasn’t difficult, there were some bright highlights. Nigel butts in saying, it’s good they have another routine. I’ll say.

Tyce says for him it’s how they executed it, and he he thinks for those three days they worked hard. Jeanine is fabulous, and he tought it would be horrible for Phillip, but he changed his mind. Tyce thinks he did very well.

With a much more fun routine, I mean it has to be, is Randi Evans and Evan Kasprzak are doing hip hop with Tabitha and Napoleon D’umo. Tabitha tells them they’re a young couple in love and Randi just finds out she’s pregnant, making them both nervous. Evan is nervous about he amount of acting required, and Randi’s nervous about those little moments they need to pull off in it. She knows if they don’t pull it off, it could be disastrous. That’s one of those things that could really go unsaid, isn’t it?

At the beginning of Halo by Beyonce, Evan’s holding a ring in a box, assumably about to propose. I think it’s a great dance, certainly better than the Russian folk dancing, but I don’t get the pregnant thing here, other than the engagement ring that keeps making an appearance. I just don’t see it in the dancing. I think the’re a great couple for the theme, though.

Nigel is still getting over the choreography this season, as they’ve been impregnating aliens, and now they have a pregnant woman being offered a ring after the fact. He also jokingly asks Randi if she should have been doing the lifts in her condition. He likes that Tabitha and Napoleon didn’t ask them to be urban and just asked them to be themselves with a hip hop feel. Every week Evan and Randi are without a doubt one of his favorite couples, and he feels they are a great asset to the program.

Mary was expecting a tran wreck, not feeling Randi and Evan have it in them to perform this, but they did a great job. She keeps waiting for Evan to do something wrong, but she never found that. Her eyes are always drawn to Randi, as she’s a fantastic dancer, and she’s certainly stanidng out in this competition.

Tyce thinks it’s a good story from Tabitha and Napoleon and thinks Evan and Randi are lucky to work with them. He wants Evan to find more. It was good, but he needs to come out and really explore what this is. Randi is doing great, and he really loves her.

It’s more authentic dancing as Brandon Bryant and Janette Manrara pick the Argentine tango with choreographers Leonardo Barrionuevo and Miriam Larici. Maybe Nigel will bring out the tequila this time. Brandon calls it sexy, “it’s just … sex.” Wouldn’t it have been great if Sex made an appearance here? They do much of the training in Spanish as everyone speaks Spanish but Brandon, leading him to say there wasn’t one moments where he wasn’t confused.

Brandon and Janette tango to Libertango from the original Broadway cast album for Forever Tango. From the very get go, the first few moves that are ultra slow and deep, it couldn’t be better. It’s stunning. It’s so crisp, seemingly exactly, how it should be. It’s as billed … sexy. It has amazing lifts, and is slow and deep when it needs to be, with quick leg movements where they’re needed as well.

NIgel is silent for a few moments, then gives Brandon and Janette a standing ovation, as the other two judges join him. Janette tells the choreographers they were unbelievable, and Nigel says for a ballroom routine, it’s as close to perfection as he’s seen on this stage ever. If Mary’s train isn’t coming, there’s going to be a lot of trouble.

This is Mary’s cue as she says the temperature is definitely rising in here. As she screams, she goes on to say that was really outstanding, the flick, the lifts, and Brandon is still not disappointing her one ounce up there. He was right there in the moment every step of the way. Janette was just flawless, and there is only one reason why they’re first class on that train. Just when Nigel takes his fingers out of his ear, Mary screams, and she and Tyce shake their shoulders at each other. She can’t even contain herself.

Tyce talks about them being a power couple and says there are so many specifics and attention to detail, with the legs that go out and the arms that are focused, and no stone left unturned. When you make fresh squeezed orange juice, you have to get all the juice out, and do the whole damn thing, and this is what they did. All three judges are tooting the train horn at the end of this.